For many years Lance Armstrong was the face of cycling. In recent years, and thanks to some advances in technology, he has become the disgrace of cycling to many people. The article below outlines why this shift has occurred. Share your thoughts on the topic. Discuss how technology advances triggered this fall. What are some of the social implications of this discovery? What is another instance in sports where events such as this have changed someone's legacy? Post a link to an article about that event as well.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/22/sport/lance-armstrong-controversy/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Disappointment is the one word that comes to mind when reading this article. Lance Armstrong was a hero to so many people and looked up to, and after these allegations, his name just went down the drain. I still find it kind of hard t believe, after so many years of passing drug tests, he is only now getting convicted? I just think with all our advances in technology and so many other athletes getting caught already, why didn't he get caught sooner? Advances in technology came into play socially with this case. News and media got ahold of the story and it blew up, he was the talk of the world when he was found guilty. People sharing their opinions on online news story comments and their own personal social media accounts sharing it with their own friends. An ongoing controversy is Alex Rodriguez and his doping scandal, where he is currently suspended from major league games this season, but will return. His story can be found at http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/07/us/alex-rodriguez-lawsuit/.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite shocking that someone so revered would do something like this. It is quite amazing that he didn't get caught sooner.
Deletecompletely agree, I cannot even imagine how his family feels, since the entire country felt a little disappointed and betrayed.
DeleteI think that with this article I am not a fan of what they are doing to Lance Armstrong. Is it right to publicly destroy someone, make him return his money that was won, make him feel like a piece of shit? I don't think so no matter the situation! The problem with todays society is that no one is ever happy for someone better than them. No one could beat Lance when he was at his prime but then you have a great amount of jealousy that comes into play by all of his competitors. He stats and as well as the committee that he never failed any of his tests but that's just not good enough for people. leave him alone and just except what he did.
ReplyDeleteThere are other instances that have affected other sport stars greatly like Mark McGwire. He actually comes clean while Lance still stats his innocents. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4816607
I just think that through all the social media that surrounds this situation is pointless, beat a man till he his down but you do no kick him when he is down. that just shows your true characteristic.
Social media just looks out for their job instead of others.
DeleteI agree with you when you say just leave him alone, he isn't the only one that makes mistakes in life.
DeleteI know that many people were very disappointed in Lance Armstrong, but i do think that they are going a little far with the things they are calling him and doing to him. I do not understand how none of his drug tests tested positive. When something like this happens to an athlete it is going to be all over social media, news articles, and magazines. There is always another scandal waiting to happen and sometimes i think its just better to leave it alone and not make it a big deal because sometimes that what people want from it, is a big deal.
ReplyDeleteThe first athlete that popped into my head was Michael Phelps. 8 time gold medalist Olympic swimmer got suspended n 2009 and got his endorsement with Kellogs taken away for a picture of him smoking marijuana. I know that this also upset many people.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1137245/Olympics-swimming-star-Michael-Phelps-suspended-pictured-smoking-drugs-pipe-Kelloggs-cancel-contract.html
Some people just make things too big of a deal, I agree.
DeleteI also thought a lot about Michael Phelps, I also agree with you that the way the media and technology handles scandals isn't always the best.
DeleteI agree, they are making a big deal of something that, if its going to be made a big deal of, should be made equally for everyone.
DeleteI think they made such a big deal out of it because Lance Armstrong is a legend and created the "Armstrong Era". His tests are what causes so much controversy.
DeleteThough I understand why many people are disappointed by Lance's actions and I can understand many of the things done to him because of the actions, I have many concerns that the actions against him are a bit far. Like going back in time to change the Tour De France awards. I know that technology has changed many things about how sports are monitored, such as the more advanced drug testing, but at the same time, there are points at which technology begins invading our personal lives. I worry about the implications of being overly controlled and monitored through technology.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-future-of-cheating-in-sports-138914769/?no-ist
I agree that I think his punishment went a little too far. Stripping him of ALL of his Tour De France titles? really?
DeleteThe punishment may have been too strict. He may have ruined his career but they have efficiently ruining everything he had left.
DeleteWell truthfully they can be disappointed in Armstrong, but I do not see how they could. I really like that Oakley stood by him with all of this and still endorsed him because of the fight against cancer and being involved with Livestrong. The technology involving with twitter, broadcasting and all of the social media they really made a huge deal out of something that was not part of their jurisdiction.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of technology jumping on something, I thought of Riley Cooper. Riley said the N word at a concert and it was all over the sports world.1723166-riley-cooper-caught-on-tape-saying-racial-slur-at-concert
I agree with you completely when you say that the media always makes a huge deal out of something that didn't need to be broadcasted to the world.
DeleteI agree that social media really enabled this whole thing to be blown out of proportion and made it a bigger deal than it needed to be.
DeleteI forgot all about the Riley Cooper incident! Media really jumped on that one when it happened.
DeleteWhen reading this article it made me think of how many people he disappointed. I personally did not feel disappointed and I feel like he could have done a lot worse things, but what he did was wrong. I feel like it takes a lot of courage to stand up against what everyone is saying and still sponsor and stand by him like Oakley did for the true right reasons. I believe that the main source of technology in this article is how the media and news handled it. There was a lot better ways to handle the situation but technology of the media, social networks, internet, and blogs all expanded the situation a lot more than it really needed to be. When thinking of this I relate it to when Barry Bonds was caught using performance enhancers. I believe that he did do something wrong, but the technology that the media uses made it a lot worse.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.barrybondssteroids.net/
Yea I didn't feel disappointed either. He did what was required of him and just like you said it was wrong but the media made the situation way worse than it seemed.
DeleteI agree he could of done a lot worse things as well! It was nice to see that he did not lose all of his sponsors!
DeleteI am not sure how I really sit on this subject with Armstrong, I don't agree with what he did but like what others have said before I think that the media is taking it way out of proportion and really making Armstrong look like a dirtbag, He may have been "doping" but he still is a strong and influential figure in cancer awareness and cancer support. I really wonder what will happen with the whole "Livestrong" collection of memorabilia.
ReplyDeleteAnother instance I can think of that has drastically changed someones image would be everything that has happened to Tiger Woods.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1233303/Tiger-Woods-took-prescription-drugs-boost-sex-mistress.html
I agree media is always blowing things our of proportion. People do make mistakes and he is still influential.
DeleteI didnt even think of Tiger Woods, but that is another scandal that definitely sticks out.
DeleteI think most people could forgive Armstrong for using steroids. He helped raise so much money for cancer. Now, Tiger Woods on the other hand, is pretty unforgivable what he did.
DeleteAfter reading this article I feel as though Armstrong was a scapegoat for the bigger program. The technology used to crucify Armstrong has been used for centuries. The dumping of information not by the main source, but an associate. I'm not saying he didn't abuse steroids, but I am saying that he may have been influenced to do them by the people that are now stripping him of his awards. He popularized the sport and brought it into the main stream. The ratings fall and so must the hero, I suppose that's how I really see technology relating to this event. The best way I can express this is through an equation.
ReplyDeleteSteroids + Athlete = More Viewers and Profit
Decrease in popularity of sport = Athlete on steroids being banned
A similar event has recently happened in baseball. Alex Rodriguez being banned from the 2014 season due to steroid use. Yes, I'm sure he was doing them, along with a large group of other players in the professional level. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire and A-rod, all of these men brought millions of viewers and fans to the sport from the mid 90's to recent times. Do you really think that the baseball commission was just oblivious to the steroid abuse? Barry Bond's hat size increased from 7-1/4 to 7-3/8 in his 2002 season (he hit 73 home runs in his 2001 season).
Below is the article about A-rod's 2014 season.
http://www.ibtimes.com/alex-rodriguez-steroids-scandal-gets-yankees-player-banned-2014-season-rod-vows-take-fight-federal
I like your equation. It's an interesting idea that seems to be true of whats going on with professional sports.
DeleteWhether Lance Armstrong doped or not during his competition, I think he shouldn't be stripped of all of his athletic title going back to 1998 because they don’t have any factual evidence that he was doping since 1998. UCI tested him 218 times and he passed all those tests. There’s always a secret in every professional sport. I think Armstrong did what was required of him and his teammates. They should ban the people who provided blood dope for them, not the athlete. Armstrong’s downfall was triggered by a federal investigation that led to the USADA test probe, media, social network, and people talking about it, which made his downfall inevitable.
ReplyDeleteNataliya Tobias, a female runner from Ukraine received a two-year ban in 2012 for testing positive for doping. This article talks about Nataliya and other eight athletes who tested positive for doping.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/25/sport/olympics-iaaf-doping-tobias/
why even do it if you ane going to get caught, it's wrong! Apparently this woN't Stop until serious actions are Taken. If they need that to compete than they shouldn't compete as all!
DeleteI know that a lot of people were disappointed in Lance Armstrong when it was made public that he had been abusing steroids. While what he did was wrong and there are obviously going to be consequences for that, I think that he was punished more severely than he needed to be. Because of technology the news of his doping soon went viral and it became a scandal. I think that technology and the media really blew it out of proportion and made it a bigger issue than it was.
ReplyDeleteRyan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers was suspended from 65 games last season for using steroids. Some people believe that this was a fair punishment, while others say that he should have been punished more severely even to the point of being banned for life. The story can be found here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9500252/ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-suspended-remainder-2013-season
I guess in some people's eyes forgiveness isn't going to be giveneasily. I think if you are going to try the stuff than you should pay the consequences. Maybe banning him for life would have been fair. If you think of everyone he has not been fair towards then yes, he should have been banned for life. He wasn't showing sportsmanship and fairness.
DeleteI think Armstrong really did do the cycling world a dirty trick, but I also think in other aspects of his life he really meant well. It is pretty obvious media and some of his past supporters are trying to seek revenge on him. Even though this revenge is because of a good reason I think some of the things just need to be dropped. Socially I think this happening was a wake up call to a lot of other sports icons. One that pops into my head is the Michael Vick dog fighting scandal. Heres a link
ReplyDeletehttp://football.about.com/od/teamsfalcons/i/Michael-Vick.htm
Michael Vick's dog fighting scandal. Perfect example of the destruction of a reputation. I'm still pretty amazed that he was welcomed back into the NFL with all of the bad reputation he brought with him,
DeleteI felt pretty sick after hearing what he did!
DeleteThe one thing that comes to mind is disappointment. Lance was someone that everyone looked up to. This outburst of social media, news and stories on the fact that lance failed a drug test was outrageous. They are going to far with it. This reminds me of Michael Phelps. He won 8 gold medals in the Olympics and was caught on camera smoking marijuana. Why wasn't his scandal such a big deal and Lance's was? I just don't understand that they take one person and blow there flaws out of proportion, and then let the rest be.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1137245/Olympics-swimming-star-Michael-Phelps-suspended-pictured-smoking-drugs-pipe-Kelloggs-cancel-contract.html
I believe that this event occurred because now a days people are going to do whatever they can to be able to have the slightest bit of advantage in whatever sport they participate in. Weather that's doing steroids or blood doping people will do whatever they can to win and be remembered. Being that I am a baseball player of course I'm going to say that Barry Bonds.( one of the greatest hitters ever to play the game ) Was caught injecting steroids into his system. One of the best and most loved players to ever play the game went from first to worst in seconds. Barry Bonds who was one of the most respected players due to stats and swing is now one of the most disrespected players due to needles and steroids. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/madden-thin-line-bonds-rose-article-1.1722768
ReplyDeleteThe whole Barry Bonds thing was a shock to me. I was a big fan and always supported and cheered him on.
DeleteThe one thing that I never really seemed to understand is why athletes in the big spot light take the risk with illegal substances when they will get caught. I remember growing up hearing the story of Lance and him getting sick and him overcoming the battle. I remember his winning all the time and he became so famous. One of the biggest things that I remember was the Livestrong brand name. Several years after him trailing off the radar he came back but not in the way that he wanted. Another big name is sports is Alex Rodriguez. He is another big time athlete that has been in the spot light for many years but now is in it for the wrong reasons. His actions for the past couple of seasons have caused him to miss the whole 2014 baseball season.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/alex-rodriguez-suspended-from-baseball-for-2014-season/
I Can't believe what they are saying. People work hard for their accomplishments and this man Cheats. who knows how many athletes have actually done so.I just wish someone would have caught it sooner. Why people do these things baffles me. why do it in the first place?
ReplyDeleteTechnology did take a large toll on his reputation. The ironic thing is that tech was used to check for drugs, and then it was used to sabotage the Armstrong name.I nave no Idea how he will recover from the media. Let's hope that this is a message to all athletes that try to cheat.
He isn't the only one that has has his name disgraced,Barry Lamar Bonds. He won numerous MVP and Golden Glove Awards and made history when he broke Hank Aaron's all-time Major League Baseball home run record. Bonds' name and reputation were ruined by the accusations. No matter what he does he will always have that haunt him. You can't take back all of The news & blogs about it.
http://www.biography.com/people/barry-bonds-9542459
The Barry Bonds situation was a big thing to and it shocked me. I always supported him and was a big fan but things happen
DeleteI'm not a fan of how they treated him. Do they have to let the whole world know about his business and destroy his life, career, etc. All the hard work he put in to win all of his awards and for them to just take away everything from him is not right. Im pretty sure there is a lot of other athletes that does the same thing. I mean why should the do it in the first place.
ReplyDeleteTechnology has taking over everything also as people reputation. The new technology checked for the drugs that Armstrong was taking and that ruined his life. The media love to sabotage people life and i understand what he did was wrong but they blew it way out of proportion, but everyone that is a athlete should know how the media is.
He isn't the only one who name have been ruined before Barry Bonds also was sabotage when he was being accused of using steroids while playing basketball and he won a lot of awards, broke Hank Aaron all time home run record. It just goes to show you no matter who you are the media will try to sabotage you. You would never be able to forget the bad things you did but you can try to change the way people see you.
http://www.biography.com/people/barry-bonds-9542459
Knowing that someone so idolized would resort to something considered so foul to win is amazing. The fact he wanted to win so badly and saw he had the means to do so. I question the rate at which we advance in technology every day. With the new found power come those who will use it for their own personal gain. The first person I thought of when reading this was Phelps. Though I don’t see how smoking pot would aid in his victories. I don’t know much about any of this really but I’m disappointed in the fact people would cheat to win.
ReplyDeletehttp://celebritydownandout.com/diving-into-drugs-michael-phelps-scandal/
People will do crazy things if it means impressing those around them. Maybe he felt he owed it to his fans to win and felt he could not do it without cheating. who knows. Does not mean it's right though.
Deletesomeone like Armstrong will always be in the history books for the things hes done too RIP what the biking people did to Armstrong was a terrible thing i didn't have to know that the thing they said about him in the article technology has changes about bike now they can go farther and they dont brake as easy .
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2012/10/10/justice/pennsylvania-sandusky-letters/index.html?iref=allsearch
I have never been one to follow professional athletes, as I'd rather be out doing these sports rather than watching them. However, I still believe that this article was interesting. While I understand that what Armstrong did was wrong, I still don't believe that it was necessary to treat him the way he was treated. Obviously, there definitely must be some sort of repercussions for any form of cheating, but making him give back all of those prizes as well as millions of dollars seems harsh. My first thought about making him give these things back, is how would he be able to give it all back when he has, more than likely spent much of it.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad Armstrong still is a legend in my eyes it is very sad to see someone name like that go down the drain. He is being asked to payback millions of dollars which is very hard. This situation is similar to Sammy Sosa i use to look up to him then i saw how people just shot his career down which was very sad.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Lance Armstrong is still a legend to many people whether they are upset about the whole thing or not.
DeleteThis shocked many people, but at the same time it wasn't a surprise to some people. I can't imagine why Lance Armstrong continued accepting prize after prize and so much money when he was doing something illegal. Technology really made the story huge, it was all over the internet. Everyone seems to have their own opinion about the Lance Armstrong scandal and about performance enhancing drugs altogether. I personally think it's horrible that so many people were let down by Lance Armstrong and feel upset he let it go on for so long. Some people say that performance enhancing drugs are common in many sports, especially baseball. Alex Rodriguez is another athlete that has come under the spotlight for the use of performance enhancing drugs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24410023/official-alex-rodriguezs-ped-use-most-potent-weve-ever-seen
I think he kept accepting the prizes only because he was expected to. He probably thought he would only use the drugs once, but ended up getting addicted to how he felt and then felt that he could not tell people.
DeleteI think that this entire situation was a huge disappointment to the entire country. Not only were his fans disappointed, but also people who didn't even follow cycling at all. I imagine fans and people that followed him felt betrayed and hurt by the situation as well.
ReplyDeleteI was a big fan of Lance Armstrong, but after reading this article I feel so disappointed with him.
ReplyDeleteThis is a similar story that happened in my country a few years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUS0qu8XcEc
I think that this whole thing was blown way out of proportion. This man worked so hard for his whole entire life to have everything taken away from him in an instant. I think that what he did was wrong but there is no way to go back to fix it. I think that people should not be so harsh on him for something he did years ago. Everyone makes mistakes.
ReplyDelete